The 103-win Houston Astros were oh-so-close to making their post-season push with the help of star outfielder Bryce Harper if not for Washington Nationals‘ ownership nixing the deal, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
The deal, in which Houston would have acquired Harper in exchange for the team’s No. 8 prospect J.B. Bukauskas and two minor-leaguers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline on July 30, would have given the Astros yet another top-tier bat in a lineup already featuring 2017 American League MVP Jose Altuve, dynamic shortstop Carlos Correa and star third baseman Alex Bregman.
Instead, Houston wound up falling short of a second consecutive World Series berth, losing to the eventual-champion Boston Red Sox in a five-game American League Championship Series.
Rosenthal adds that Nationals ownership felt trading Harper would have diminished any chance of re-signing the six-time all-star:
Nats ownership long has been fond of Harper, whom the team selected with the No. 1 pick of the 2010 draft, and might have feared that trading him would harm their relationship with the player and reduce their chances of signing him. As it turned out, those chances might be diminishing, anyway. Harper, 26, rejected a 10-year, $300 million offer from the Nats on the final day of the regular season, according to the Washington Post, opting to enter the free-agent market instead.
Considering Astros’ right fielder Josh Reddick struggled to the tune of a .188 average during the ALCS, having Harper certainly could have enhanced the team’s chances at winning another American League pennant.
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